An Oddly Brilliant Inspiration

Lamb and Sweet Potato Pot Pie

We’ve never had dog food, although apparently it won’t kill you to taste it. There’s this certain kind of dog food that combines lamb and sweet potatoes, and we know a certain dog who eats it. She seems to enjoy it. Although what plops out of the can does not look appetizing, the combination of tender lamb and sweet potatoes remains an intriguing one. We took to the ‘net to see how others have combined them before, and there appear to be many shepherd’s pies, stews and even curries. We wanted a pie for sure, but we wanted one with a flakey crust. One good enough for man and man’s best friend. And, well, that was that!

We will not forget to mention that the secret and winning ingredient in this pie is the demi glace. We won a drawing from The Food Addicts, and the prize was this powerful package of Savory Choice beef demi glace. We’ve tasted a killer osso bucco with demi glace, so we know it has the ability to really shape a dish. When the little box arrived in the mail with our prize and a sweet card from Krissy and Daniel, we knew we had to make them proud. Hopefully, we did just that. Perhaps we can send them a virtual slice to show our gratitude!

6. As dough chills, swirl a bit of olive oil in the bottom of a very wide and deep pan. When sizzling, add lamb pieces and cook on medium heat until just browned. Scoop onto a separate plate.

7. If necessary, swirl a bit more olive oil in the same pan. Scrape up all the drippings on the pan, then slide onion and celery, cooking down until they soften and go translucent.

8. Pour in wine and demi glace. Stir well. Add lamb back to the vegetables, followed by peas and bay leaf. Cover, turn down to a simmer and cook about 15 minutes.

9. Stir together water and cornstarch and pour into lamb and veggies. Mix well. Add sweet potatoes and cook another 5-7 minutes. Remove from heat and cool completely. Remove bay leaf.

10. Once filling has cooled, take chilled dough and, on a floured surface, roll one ball for bottom crust layer. Drop in 9-inch pie dish and trim edges. Place in the fridge and roll second piece of dough for top.

11. Remove bottom crust layer from fridge and pour in filling. Top with second layer and trim edges if necessary. Roll top crust edge over bottom crust. Put back in the fridge or pop in freezer 2-4 minutes for a quick chill if dough feels at all soft.*

12. Just before baking, brush milk over top crust. Bake in a preheated oven at 375 degrees for 45-50 minutes or until golden brown.

*Here’s where you can make this dish early. Let the filling cool completely in the fridge. When cool, assemble pie with both layers and filling and chill until ready to bake. As for the continuous chilling methods, this is the best way to keep a flakey crust. Never, never, never bake soft, soggy dough. Avoid a disaster and overchill if necessary!

I was reminded of the scene in Augusten Burroughs’ memoir “Running with Scissors” where young Augusten gets stuck living with his mother’s psychiatrist’s family and the wife there chows down on dog food while watching TV.

Your creation obviously is a million miles away from that image though. The crust looks really good.

Looks delicious. Lamb can really hold up to a lot, I once made a lamb stew with orange and was surprised at how good it came out. I will bookmark this one to use up some of our lamb we just got from a farmer.

Girl, looks like you really gave us readers a scare here! Mission accomplished! hee hee!!! But really, I never had been a big fan of lamb – I think it was overcooked! I like to try cooking it again, oh and congrats!!! I hope you guys win!

Oh wow! That’s awesome. I totally didn’t see this post with the demi glace sauce. Well done, indeed. It looks like the most savory pie I’ve ever seen! I wish I was able to get that virtual slice. Yum!!!

[…] Sunday Dinner. We have a couple recipes for pot pie on the blog: Chicken Cheddar Pot Pie and a Lamb Sweet Potato Pot Pie. A great sweet ending to one of your Sunday meals is a Banana Pudding Cake we […]